


Unkind Folly

by Dokt0rGunn



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bad Ending, Dark Rhys, M/M, Mild Smut, Post TftBl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-11 13:28:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12936267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dokt0rGunn/pseuds/Dokt0rGunn
Summary: Timothy Lawrence was told by one of hisonlyfriends, that the new Atlas CEO was a different kind of boss, and that Atlas was now a different kind of company. Since he was in need of a job and not many people are willing to hire the doppelganger of Handsome Jack, he didn't have many options anyway. So when the CEO Rhys Fausse personally reached out to offer him a job, it seemed like the best course of action.However, as Tim knows better than most, sometimes the most handsome faces, hide the darkest secrets.Maybe he has nothing to worry about. Maybe Janey was right. It seemed different. I had to be different.It would all be just fine.Right?'All Credit for Art Goes To:hyperioncompanyman.tumblr.com&sightlessxx.tumblr.com





	Unkind Folly

**Author's Note:**

> The art contained within was created by (and belongs to) the amazing [hyperioncompanyman](http://hyperioncompanyman.tumblr.com) & [sightlessxx](http://sightlessxx.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
>  **Warning:** _Please check the tags before reading if you might be bothered by certain types of content. The tags may spoil certain things, but I don't want anyone stumbling into something they didn't want to read. Thank you._

Tim's stomach squirmed, and for the millionth time he wondered if he was making the correct choice. After all, the last time he’d chosen to work for some attractive jerk, it had gone all kinds of wrong.  
  
This would be different. The words had practically become a mantra to the man. He drew in a shaking breath, it would be different, Janey promised him this was different.  
  
Tim ran one hand along the inside of the window, in an effort to clear away the condensation that had formed. The driver had told him a few minutes ago that they had an ETA of fifteen minutes.

Tim squinted at the image on the other side of the window pane, and found himself scrambling for his glasses to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Cold metal frames slid across his nose, and his eyes widened in astonishment. Trees. There were trees.  
  
_Trees on Pandora._  
  
The vault hunter was practically pressing himself to the window now, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen real trees. Before Hyperion, that was for sure.

When he was a boy he'd had a huge tree in his front yard, and he had practically lived in that thing. The times he’d scrambled up it to read in the branches were some of his fondest memories.  
  
Ahead of them Tim could make out several dome shaped buildings gracefully sticking out of the foliage. Janey had said it was different. He'd never been more thankful that he'd kept in touch with the woman.  
  
The vehicle pulled through a large gate, and then finally came to a stop in front of the largest of the buildings.  
  
"This is your stop," the driver spoke, giving him a final awkward glance. At least the man didn't seem to be afraid of him anymore.  
  
Tim smiled brightly, "Thanks!"  
  
The driver raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more as the vault hunter stepped out of the transport to take in a deep breath.  
  
It smelled like trees! The air tasted like trees! It was unbelievable and absolute perfection. Tim could feel tears well up in his eyes. He really had thought he'd die without ever experiencing trees again.  
  
"Glasses huh?" a voice drew the vault hunter’s attention, and he turned to view his new boss.  
  
"Age catches up with us all,” he responded with a small shrug.  
  
Rhys Fausse was a man who always seemed to look perfect, and frankly, Tim found it a bit aggravating. Today, his immaculate suit was pale blue with accents of gold, the vault hunter vaguely wondered where exactly the man got clothing like that on Pandora.  
  
The new Atlas CEO chuckled while running one hand along his too perfect hair, and smiling a too perfect smile, "Well, we'll have to see about that."  
  
God, Tim couldn't decide if he wanted to punch the asshole or kiss him.  
  
No, bad. Bad thought. That asshole was his boss.  
  
"How did you get trees?" Tim questioned, returning his thoughts to a safer and more important topic.  
  
Rhys chuckled and motioned for the vault hunter to follow, "A combined effort. Atlas had already been researching terraforming methods for Pandora, with varying degrees of success. But between their research and the information I got in the Vault of the Traveller-"  
  
"-you've opened a vault?" Tim felt his eye twitch, and the all too familiar panic started to swell up in his chest. Different. Different. This would be different.  
  
"Uh yeah, did Janey not tell you about it?" Rhys raised a brow, and his chest puffed up proudly, "It was pretty cool, I got to control a giant robot, and fight the vault monster, and then I opened a big glowy box."  
  
" _We_ opened a big glowy box," A woman's voice cut into Rhys’ boasting, "And there were other people in the giant robot.”"  
  
"Well," The cyborg deflated slightly, "I had some help."  
  
The woman snorted and adjusted the bowler hat she was wearing as she approached, "You must be Tim. I'm Fiona. Don't let Mr. Great Liberator over there tell you any story without me there, the Children of Helios made his head even bigger than it already was."  
  
Tim chuckled and accepted the hand stuck out in his direction, "Nice to meet you."  
  
Fiona grinned, "Jeez Rhys, way to get me going. Had me all ready for Handsome Jack two point O, and instead we get this guy; you might look like him, but that's the only thing that's the same."  
  
A pleased feeling warmed the vault hunter’s heart and he practically beamed at the praise. Unlearning the rigorous training he'd gone through so that he could be Jack at all times had been a long and arduous process. To hear he'd managed it was the highest compliment he could be paid, "So what was in the vault?"  
  
Fiona scowled, "Well I thought it'd be treasure, ya know?"  
  
He did. He definitely did. The memory of the strange vault symbol burning its visions into Jack's brain flickered through his mind.  
  
"It _was_ treasure Fi," Rhys finally resumed their slow walk down the hall, "She got knowledge of astro charts to places no one's ever heard of, and I got information of Eridian biotechnology."  
  
"Which helped with the terraforming," Tim clued in.  
  
Rhys grinned, "Exactly. Between what I can do with terraforming, and what Fi can find for land, we can create homes across new galaxies! We can find new resources safely for once instead of fucking it all up like they did with Pandora and Promethea."  
  
"And we can fix Pandora," Fiona added.  
  
"And fix Pandora," Rhys agreed.  
  
It all sounded too good to be true, but there it was right in front of him.  
  
They reached the end of the hallway and Fiona patted him on the arm, "Now he's gonna make you let doctors stab you a bunch."  
  
A scowl crossed Rhys’ face, "Fiona, as I told you and Sasha when you had to get them, Atlas has mandatory vaccinations for a good reason. Do you want mad skag disease?"  
  
Fiona rolled her eyes, "I'm just saying I never needed to be stabbed before to not get sick."  
  
"That's luck. Correlation, not causa-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," the woman waved and turned to walk away, "I don't need your rant again."  
  
"Vaccinations?" Tim asked hesitantly, he'd never been a fan of needles, more so since his not quite voluntary transformation into Jack.  
  
Rhys sighed, "Look, it's just basic shots. I swear if I have to argue with one more person about the necessity of vaccinations my head is going to explode."  
  
"It's fine," Tim bit his lip, "I just don't really like needles, or doctors."  
  
Rhys seemed to clue in right away and pressed one soft hand to the vault hunter's arm, "How about I stay with you while you get them? That way, we can go right to the tour of the facilities after."  
  
It was different.  
  
Tim let out a breath and briefly considered telling the cyborg he didn't have to wait with him. But the idea of being left alone with doctors was too much, so instead he just nodded.  
  
They entered into a large, open room with perfectly folded cots, and a smell that was too sterile to be comfortable.  
  
"Timothy Lawrence?" A man in a white coat asked with a nervous glance at the CEO.  
  
He hesitated and Rhys pushed him gently towards a cot before speaking on his behalf, "Yup, this is Tim."  
  
When Tim didn't move the doctor made a quick impatient motion with one hand, "Well?"  
  
"Doctor Schlimme," Rhys sounded unimpressed, "I believe we've discussed your bedside manner once before."  
  
The doctor took a step back, obviously cowed by the cyborg's words, "Sorry, sir."  
  
Rhys gave the doctor the slightest sneer and then turned his attentions back to Tim, "Take as much time as you need."  
  
The vault hunter looked nervously between the two men, he had the distinct feeling he was missing something, "It's fine, I didn't mean to waste the doctor's time."  
  
Rhys shook his head, "I am paying the doctor for his time."  
  
Tim smiled and hopped onto the cot, "Probably easier if we just get it over with."  
  
Doctor Schlimme shrugged and picked up a needle that had been sitting ready on a nearby medical tray, "Right or left handed?"  
  
"Left," Tim said holding it up, "But I can function fine with either one."  
  
"Was Jack right handed?" Rhys asked with a strange look in his eyes.  
  
"Oh, uh, yeah, most of it wasn't too bad. Learning to write kinda sucked though."  
  
"I can imagine."  
  
"Are you right handed?"  
  
Rhys chuckled and the strange look vanished, "Oh no, left originally, I didn't chop off my good hand, but I'm ambidextrous now for the most part. Cybernetics can do amazing things."  
  
Tim raised one eyebrow, "So the arm was on purpose then?"  
  
"Oh yes," Rhys shot him a salesman smile, "Anything to get ahead at Hyperion."  
  
Tim couldn't really say he related, but he nodded along anyway as the doctor cleaned off the injection site.

The doppelganger position hadn't been offered to internal Hyperion staff for reasons at the time had been beyond Tim. But in retrospect it was obvious Jack had been trying to keep the project hidden from his higher ups.  
  
There was a slight twinge as the needle went in, and then the uncomfortable pressure of the vaccine being pushed in.  
  
"All done for now," The doctor said, pulling the syringe free, "But you do have to come back next month for one more shot."  
  
Tim nodded and quickly stood from the cot. It was different. No one had drugged him against his will, or put him through months of intensive surgery while he was unconscious. Although, the room did seem awfully far away. There was a crashing noise and then . . .  
  
_Jack always seemed to like it better when Tim struggled, and Handsome Jack always got his way. The eagerness in the large familiar hands pressing him down onto desk were like an old companion. Even though Tim always gave his permission, the doppelganger could never help but push back when the Hyperion CEO inevitably took things further than he would have liked. This time the man was running the tip of a red hot blade along his neck._

_“You’re mine Timmy, and now you’re going to be his,” A low chuckle came from behind him and Jack slowly leaned into his vision, “Because you need someone to own you, don’t you Timtam?”_

_Tim bucked against the hold but to no avail, Jack’s grip was unyielding. What did he mean his? Confusion flooded Tim’s mind as he tried to work it out._

_“He’ll never give you what I did,” The words were hissed in his ear, “But if you want a second rate knock off, have fun.”_

_What did he mean?_

_Rhys! His own brain supplied, he means Rhys._

_It was all wrong, he didn’t work for Jack anymore, he’d fled the moment Wilhelm and Nisha had died. He’d had no intention of being yet another casualty in Jack’s vendetta against Pandora._

_A red hot blade was now coming towards his eye, and Tim couldn’t seem to get away no matter how hard he struggled. Jack’s hold was like steel, he could feel the heat get closer and-_  
  
Tim woke on the floor, one side of his skull felt like it was on fire, and Rhys was leaning over him with a concerned expression.

"What?" The word sounded hazy and uncertain, even to him. Tim reached out and his arm performed a clumsy parody of his instructions for it; his fingers barely brushing Rhys' jacket rather than grabbing on to the lapel.

"Hey, you collapsed, so just take it easy for a second. The doctor said it was a bad reaction to the vaccine."  
  
Tim groaned, ah, he'd fallen over, that explained why his head hurt so much, "Hate hospitals," he groaned before letting Rhys ease his head back onto something soft.  
  
"Are you...feeling okay?" Rhys asked.  
  
Tim winced, "I think I will be."  
  
"Good," Rhys let out a relieved sigh and leaned back, "Look, I know I just hired you, but I'm going to need you to do me a favour and not tell the Pandorans on staff about this. I already have a hard time getting them to come in here."  
  
Tim gave a vague thumbs up to the room and then slumped against the floor. Fuck did he ever hate doctors.

 

* * *

 

Two months into working at Atlas, and so far, Tim had been pleased to discover it truly was different from working at Hyperion, or for Jack. Janey hadn’t lied.

Rhys had moments where he made choices Tim found slightly questionable, but nothing out of the ordinary for a man running a weapons manufacturing company on the border worlds. Certainly nothing that was Jack levels of insanity. In fact, over all he was finding that he actually liked Rhys quite a lot. For all his similarities to Jack, it was his differences that made him someone Tim sincerely enjoyed spending time with.

Mostly, Tim’s job involved running the security, protecting the science teams that had fieldwork to do, and guarding Rhys on the occasions where he had to leave the facilities. It was easy work, especially when compared to the sort of nonsense he’d been doing for Jack before the man had died.

It was during one of Rhys’ outings into the field, when Tim had his first real fight since joining Atlas.

They were there to look at the latest device Rhys had invented for terraforming. Rhys had been standing with his hands on his hips, practically beaming at his own success, when a woman had launched out of a nearby shipping container with a blade in each hand and a grim look in her eyes. Tim had barely noticed in time to pull Rhys out of her path. The woman, however, seemed entirely unfazed by this, and she was whirling on one foot the moment she’d landed to lunge at the CEO again.

Tim swore under his breath, she was fast and definitely deadly, he brought up his gun to fire while using his other to activate the device at his wrist. He hated the digi-Jack’s if he was being honest, a constant reminder of everything that Jack was. But he needed the help if he was going to take this woman out, and feelings had no place on the battlefield.

Rhys’ eyes widened and for a moment Tim thought he detected a hint of eagerness there. But he didn’t have long to look because the serious lady with the knives was hurtling towards him. Tim fell backwards, avoiding her blades by a fraction, a fact evidenced by the two brand new slices his shirt had.

He let out a sigh. He had really liked that shirt too, it had been a gift from Janey and Athena for his birthday. He wasn’t even sure where they’d found a cat shirt on the border planets. He brought up his arm again and unloaded his clip into the woman’s shield. He was pleased when the telltale flicker told him he’d successfully dropped it.

The woman let out a howl and lunged at Rhys at the same time the digi-Jack’s shot her full of bullets. As her body dropped to the ground, Tim dismissed his temporary companions and pulled himself to his feet, he glanced over at the Atlas CEO who was frowning down at the now very dead woman.

“What the hell was that?” Tim asked with one raised brow.

Rhys leaned down and rifled through the woman’s pockets, his hands coming away bloody, “Assassin,” He commented as he searched, “Though I’d like to know from who.”

“You’re taking this awfully calmly,” Tim tilted his head to the side. Honestly, based on everything he knew about the man, he’d sort of expected something else, maybe some over dramatizing, or at least being grossed out by the woman who’d been turned into the human equivalent of swiss cheese.

Rhys scoffed and continued his search, “You don’t think this is the first time someone’s tried to kill me, do you? It’s not even the first assassination attempt since I took over Atlas.”

Tim shook his head, “I can see why you hired me, so, why are people trying to assassinate you?”

“Pandora is one of the biggest markets for both guns and instant first aid, if I successfully make it safer . . . ” Rhys trailed off and smiled.

“So the other gun companies want you dead,” Tim frowned, “Aren’t there other markets?”

Rhys grunted as he finally stood up, apparently not having found anything, “And what do you think I intend to do to their other markets if I succeed here?”

“Ah,” Tim scowled, “Money grubbing bastards.”

The CEO let out a chuckle, “We all want money Tim, I just figured out how to do it while fixing everything,” he winked, “Not everyone can be as fantastic as me.”

Tim shook his head with a slightly fond expression. For all his arrogant boasting and posturing, Rhys really was doing good, Tim had seen it. He sold guns too of course, it was, after all, what Atlas was known for. But it wasn’t as if you could go without a weapon on the border planets, so Tim didn’t see any problem with it.

Rhys leaned against the nearby railing and winced, one blood stained hand leaving fingerprints on the metal, “We should head back now.”

"You haven't even finished watching your new . . . what is that thing? A planting machine?"

“It adds nutrients to the soil, but close,” Rhys frowned, “And it’s going to have to wait.”

Rhys  was holding his other hand against his side and that’s when Tim noticed there was significantly more blood than there really should have been, “She got you.”

“Only a little.”

Judging by the amount of blood, it was not only a little. Making up his mind, Tim bent slightly and picked up Rhys, “Hold still and keep pressure on it, I’ll get you back to the dome.”

Rhys let out a small laugh and reached out to run one finger along Tim’s jaw, “My hero.”

The vault hunter felt his cheeks heat up and he did his best to ignore the tight feeling in his chest that was urging him to hold Rhys closer. He rushed them to where he’d left their vehicle and was speeding through the Pandoran desert before Rhys spoke again.

“You don’t have to look so serious.” Rhys was eyeing him through slightly lowered eyelids, his words slurring somewhat.

Tim swore and pushed the pedal all the way to the floor. If they hit any large rocks they were probably fucked, but Rhys would be fucked anyway if they didn’t make it back soon. Silently he cursed the past version of himself who’d decided that morning that sandwiches were more important than insta-health vials. Idiot! He slid the vehicle to a jerky stop in front of the main Atlas dome just as Rhys had started to slump in his seat in earnest.

He burst into the medical facility, eyes settling on the nearest doctor, “He’s been stabbed.”

From there, the medical staff quickly went to work on the cyborg, leaving Tim to stand awkwardly at the far side of the room frowning down at the tacky red substance that was now covering his front. He’d _really_ ruined his shirt now.

A nurse finally noticed him and softly escorted him out of the room by one elbow, “We can call you when he wakes up.”

“He is going to wake up?”

The nurse gave him a knowing look that went over Tim’s head and then smiled, “Yes of course, you got him here fast enough, he’ll be just fine dear. Now why don’t you go clean up, hmm?”

Tim nodded and then gave one last glance at the door to the medical ward. It took him another moment to shove his fear of leaving down and stomp on it. Why was he even lingering here? He’d done his job, although maybe he’d done a subpar version given the man he was supposed to be protecting had been stabbed.

He pegged his reluctance to go clean up as guilt and then quickly left the room. He was being ridiculous, Rhys would be fine.

A long hot shower and a very sad disposal of one cat shirt later, he found himself back in front of the medical facilities, pacing back and forth. He just needed to see for himself that Rhys was okay. Only because he was responsible for the man’s life, that was all, right? Right.

It was another hour before a nurse let him go in to see Rhys, and when she did, Tim found that the CEO looked even paler than normal and not at all his normal perfectly done up self. Dark circles sat under the man’s eyes, and Tim wondered if Rhys usually used makeup to cover those up. He probably did.

It was refreshing on some level to see him like this, like a human being instead of the always immaculate Atlas CEO Rhys Fausse. He felt like he finally had found the man beneath the mask.

“Hey,” Rhys smiled genuine and pleased before reaching one hand out to grasp onto Tim’s own, “The hero of the day returns.”

Tim hesitated, some part of him wanted to pull his hand back, but another larger part of him wanted to grip on and never let go. He settled for something in between and simply didn’t move, “Just doing my job.”

Rhys snorted, “Oh just let me be thankful, even if it is your job.”

Tim shook his head, “I mean you can, but you do pay me for this you know.”

“Well, sure,” Rhys sighed, “But I mean, it’s not everyday I’m saved from a crazed assassin.” The cyborg’s hand tightened around his, “Let me take you to dinner or something, as a thank you.”

“That’s really not necessary,” Tim withdrew slightly only for a cybernetic hand to clamp around his wrist firmly enough that it stung a little.

“Don’t be silly, of course it’s not necessary, but I’m going to do it anyways,” Large brown and gold eyes stared at Tim and seemingly through him, “Unless you don’t want to have dinner with me.”

Tim yanked his arm back with a wince and Rhys finally released, seeming to realize he’d clamped down too hard, “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

Rhys scoffed, “And why would it be inappropriate exactly?”

Maybe he’d misread the situation, Tim suddenly realized, maybe the cyborg had meant a professional dinner? “I didn’t mean to imply anything…”

Rhys started laughing, “No, no, that’s not,” The CEO reached out with his flesh hand and drew Tim back towards him, soft flesh ghosted over where metal had dug into him only moments before, “I mean, I’m in charge, so I get to decide what’s inappropriate. But if you’re not interested I won’t press the issue.”

He was being an idiot, Tim knew he was being an idiot, involving his heart in things had only ever fucked him over; and yet, “When you get out of here, I wouldn’t be against dinner.”

The vault hunter could feel his cheeks burning as Rhys grinned, it was earnest and far more attractive than the salesman smile he’d watched the CEO put on more than once in the past couple months. Rhys’ normal smile reminded Tim of a shark, all teeth and ready to rip you apart if you got in his way. But this smile, it seemed, was just for him. He found it made Rhys look younger, especially in conjunction with his mussed up hair and hospital gown.

It took another day of observation before Rhys was allowed to leave. Insta health vials would close wounds of course, but they couldn’t replenish blood and they didn’t always deal with infections. It was the day after that when he opened the door to his rooms and found a small package sitting outside.

The wrapping was careful, precise, and the attached tag had the crisp handwriting of a certain cyborg Tim knew.

_‘Tim, I’ll pick you up at dinner tonight if you’re still interested. - Rhys’_

Carrying the package back into his Atlas provided flat, he peeled the paper open and lifted the lid to the box. His eyes widened slightly as he took in a suit made of fabric smooth enough that it didn’t catch on any of the calluses he’d built up on his hands. Where was Rhys taking him exactly?

He ran his hand over the gray material and tried to clamp down on the self conscious panic that swelled through him, wherever it was, it was definitely too fancy for him.

Yet he found himself lifting the clothing from the box anyways. Underneath the suit was a dark blue button up shirt made of the same soft material. A hint of pink however pulled his attention and he could help but grin when he pushed the dress shirt aside to find a t-shirt with a cat on the front. It wasn’t exactly the same as the one he’d destroyed during the fight with the assassin, but it was very close.

Later that night Tim was staring at himself in the mirror, eyes running over his image as he tried to convince himself he looked fine. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he was attractive of course, Jack had been an attractive man. But Jack would have worn this suit like it was any other clothing choice, he would have looked like it fit.

Tim on the other hand just kept feeling somehow too small for it even though, in actuality, it was almost perfectly fitted. He puffed out his chest in an effort to exude some of that confidence he used to mimic so well. Yeah, Jack definitely would have worn it better.

A knock at his front door had him deflating immediately. He should just cancel now, this whole thing was inevitably going to be a disaster. Tim’s hand hesitated over the door knob for a moment, it would be easy, he could say he wasn’t feeling well, or that he’d changed his mind. Better now than later when it would hurt too much.

He opened the door and his mouth ran dry.

Rhys was dressed as perfectly as he ever was, hair once again back in it’s perfect coif, charming smile on his lips and eyes that lit up when they ran over Tim.

He didn’t even get a word in before Rhys had entered his room to walk in a circle around him, “I thought it would look good on you but wow,” he grinned, “Ready for dinner?”

Tim turned around, his decision to cancel on the tip of his tongue, but instead all that came out was a nervous laugh, “Where are we going?”

Rhys smiled, “I had something set up, not to worry Tim, nothing public,” he reached out and straightened the vault hunter’s shirt collar.

“So why the suit?”

The CEO grinned and ran one hand along the fabric, “Well that’s my gift to me,” He winked,  
“I’m glad you decided to wear it.”

The something Rhys had set up, as it turned out, was a table on the balcony of his own Atlas suite; a much larger and more opulent suite than any of the other’s Tim had seen. Although he did find as he looked over the living room that it seemed considerably less lived in than the man’s office. Not particularly shocking he supposed, given how much Rhys seemed to work.

The view from the balcony, however, was incredible, “One of a kind,” Rhys bragged, “Nowhere else in the six galaxies looks like this.”

“I’d believe it,” Tim spoke wide eyed as he watched one of the strange floating blue creatures drift casually past the balcony.

“I wasn’t sure what sort of food you would want, but I ordered a sun-dried tomato risotto for us,” Rhys smiled faintly, “I think it’s pretty good as far as quality goes, spectacular by Pandoran standards.”

Tim’s eyes widened, “It’s my favourite actually,” He hadn’t gotten to have any in years, not since well before Jack had died.

A brief sly look in Rhys’ eyes made a paranoid feeling crawl up his spine. Had he somehow known what Tim’s favourite food was? No, that was ridiculous, he was just seeing things he was sure, there was no way the cyborg could know what his favourite food was. After all, Timothy Lawrence didn’t exist in any system, Hyperion had seen to that.

Rhys seemed happy enough to fill any silences as they ate with long rambles about Atlas and his work. Occasionally asking Tim’s opinion, or prodding him with small personal questions.

“So why a cat shirt?” Rhys asked as they waited for the dessert they were having sent up to them.

Tim smiled faintly, “The short version is I thought a cat poster was cute while doing a job for Janey once and she’s been giving me cat themed things ever since for my birthday.”

“It seems a little . . . contrary to all things vault hunter,” Rhys shrugged, “But then what do I know about vault hunting really.”

“You’ve opened the same number of vaults I have,” Tim pointed out.

Rhys chuckled, “Well, that was more of something I stumbled into if I’m being entirely honest, and I mean I’ve learned how to fire a gun recently. But I assure you, I am not even close to a vault hunter.”

“Ah, well, I don’t know if vault hunters are supposed to have cat shirts or not,” Tim fiddled with his napkin, “I hadn’t really planned on being one. I mean I went to school for creative writing, Jack just had other plans is all.”

“A writer? How did you go from writer to a vault hunter and Handsome Jack’s body double?”

“It paid well, I had student loans,” Tim frowned, “And I didn’t really know what I was signing up for. I didn’t even know there was surgery involved until after I got to Helios, and by then, it was way too late to back out.”

“Ah,” Rhys folded his hands in his lap and had a distant look for a moment before smiling, “So, write anything recently?”

Tim hesitated, frowning as the napkin he’d been playing with ripped, “Just some little things, I don’t have a lot of time for it these days.”

Rhys raised a brow, “Well you can bring something with you when we’re travelling places you know, or when you’re just standing around waiting for me.”

“I’ll, uh, think about it,” He probably wouldn’t if he was being honest, when he was writing it was hard to pay attention to his surroundings, and that would make guarding Rhys very difficult.

Rhys was standing suddenly and walking around the table, reaching one hand down to wrap around Tim’s and softly pull away the napkin, “Look, you don’t have to be so nervous around me. I don’t bite. Well, not unless you want me to.”

Tim looked up and could feel a blush burn across his face, Rhys was smirking down at him as he ran his cybernetic hand along the side of the vault hunters face. A shudder slid up Tim’s spine at the softly tracing cool metal.

“Does that mean you _do_ want me to?” The CEO asked with a none too subtle bite down on his own lip as he leaned closer.

It was such a bad idea, but in that moment Tim couldn’t quite remember any of the reasons why, his eyes tracing along pink lips and high cheekbones, then down to where the man’s collar bone was peeking out of his slightly unbuttoned dress shirt.

Such a bad, bad idea - of this Tim was sure. But in spite of this, he reached out to pull Rhys closer.

One robotic hand laced into the back of his hair as their lips met, and then Rhys was immediately pushing deeper. A skilled tongue teasing just right, and Tim couldn’t help the soft groan that rose up from his chest.

The cyborg detached only long enough swing one leg over and straddle Tim’s lap. Rhys’ brilliant eyes were devouring the vault hunter, before he was quickly pulling him back in for more. The kiss was somehow soft and all consuming at the same time, a perfect match for the man gifting him with the experience.

Tim pulled back with a soft gasp before latching his mouth onto Rhys’ throat and slowly working his way down to the collarbone that arched gracefully just below. The noises that Rhys was making were more than enough to urge Tim on.

When Tim raised his head to capture the man’s lips however, he found that Rhys’ eyes were focused on something behind Tim. His heart stopped for a moment and Tim craned his neck to see what it was Rhys had been staring at. If they got assassinated while making out like a couple of teenagers the vault hunter was going to be so, so, ticked off.

But there was nothing there, just empty space.

“What are you looking at?” Tim asked as Rhys’ eyes locked with his.

The cyborg grinned, an excited flush making the man seem to almost glow, “Nothing, just got lost in some incredibly pleasant sensations,” Rhys leaned down to nip at the vault hunter’s throat and then ground down in his lap, “Wouldn’t mind some more.”

It was a terrible idea he confirmed with himself even as he stood, lifting Rhys with him as he moved. For a guy with cybernetics he was awfully light, “You have some place more comfortable to take this?”

Rhys grinned and latched onto Tim’s arm so that he could drag him down a dimly lit hallway, “Right this way, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor.”

“Mr. Knight in Shining Armor?” He asked distractedly as his eyes traced along the very fitted suit clinging to his employer.

“You know,” Rhys laughed, “Since you rescued me and all.”

Tim raised one brow and chuckled, “And you’re what? The prince I saved?”

“King,” Rhys responded with a cocky wink.

The doorbell rang just as they stepped into the bedroom. Tim stopped to glance back down the hall, “Shouldn’t you get that?”

Rhys snorted, “Already got my dessert thanks,” He tugged the vault hunter closer, “They can wait.”

Tim followed the other man’s insistent tug on his lapels towards the bed. He almost immediately forgot about the doorbell as slim hands slid under his shirt, and perfect lips moved along his neck.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do this?” Rhys murmured against Tim’s adam’s apple.

The vault hunter couldn’t help but swallow, wide eyes following Rhys’ descent as he pushed Tim back against the bed. The vault hunter drew in a sharp breath as a hand ran along his thigh, and the clink of his belt coming undone seemed to echo inside his skull.

The warm heat of Rhys’ breath ghosted over Tim’s stomach as the man pulled at his pants. Rhys paused every so often to apply soft kisses or small licks and Tim couldn’t help but squirm a little bit under his ministrations.

 

Pausing the cyborg looked up at him with mismatched eyes and grinned, “Ticklish I see. Sounds fun, but we’ll save that for another night.”

Any doubts or concerns were long since driven from Tim’s head and the burning heat in his stomach had him dragging Rhys up towards his mouth and then rolling them over. Underneath him Rhys let out an eager gasp and smiled against the vault hunter’s lips.

A faint glow from Rhys’ echo eye lit up his face providing Tim with a perfect view in spite of the dim lighting in the bedroom. “How the hell do you always look so perfect,” Tim muttered as he pulled at the cyborgs shirt.

Rhys bucked his hips up gently and seemed to almost glow from the compliment paid to him, “Hurry up.”

Tim let out a brief laugh, “It’d be easier if you hadn’t gotten us all dressed up for this dinner.”

Smiling the cyborg laced one hand through Tim’s hair, “But we do look great.”

Tim rolled his eyes, “I’m sure you’d look good in anything.”

Their frantic scrambles quickly paid off however and very quickly there was a pile of clothing abandoned on the floor next to the bed. Tim leaned back on his heels, and just stared for a moment. He was more than right, Rhys would look good in anything, or nothing.

Rhys reached up and dragged the vault hunter back down towards him, “Come on Tim, time to use those vault hunting muscles for something much more fun.”

 

* * *

 

 

It had been six months since Tim had started dating Rhys Fausse, and he had honestly never been happier. Sure Rhys was sometimes a little impatient, or angry, or too pushy. But never really with Tim, so what did it matter to him? Especially since it had been six months of seeing the man nearly everyday, and still his heart caught in his chest everytime the CEO entered the room.

So when he heard that morning that the man he was quickly coming to love had executed three employees in the middle of the Atlas mess hall, he was understandably reluctant to believe it.

He wouldn’t get to see Rhys until later, the man was in meetings all day, but Tim was sorely tempted to just burst in and interrupt. It couldn’t be true, right? Rhys didn’t just kill employees in cold blood. There had been employees who’d had to be killed of course, people who were there to assassinate him for example, but not like this.

Before he could make up his mind however, Vaughn found him pacing in the waiting room outside of Rhys’ office.

“I see you’ve heard the news,” Vaughn’s voice was grim.

Tim frowned, “I’m sure there was a good reason.”

Vaughn snorted, Tim had only ever had brief interactions with the Bandit King of the Children of Helios. He knew that Rhys and him had been close, but Vaughn had only stopped by a few times since Tim had started working for Atlas.

“If by good reason you mean they accused him of destroying a settlement at the edge of Atlas territory and he decided to _‘make an example of them’_ then sure, a good reason,” Vaughn shook his head he was clearly disgruntled, “I mean I think I always knew he’d snap eventually, I just hoped it would be less public.”

“Is that what he told you?” Tim frowned, it didn’t sound like Rhys to him.

Vaughn shook his head “It’s what he told the whole mess hall, I was eating breakfast with him when it happened.”

“Maybe they were sent from another company,” Tim suggested, “You know, corporate spies sent to make him look bad.”

Vaughn let out a low whistle and frowned, “You’ve got it bad huh?”

“What?”

“For Rhys, I mean,” Vaughn reached out one arm and patted him on the shoulder, “I’m going to give you some advice, whether you follow it or not is up to you; but if I was you, I’d get as far away from him as I could.”

Tim scowled, he had been pretty sure he’d heard Rhys refer to this man as his best friend before, but he didn’t seem to be behaving much like one.

Vaughn seemed to deflate slightly under the vault hunter’s glare, “Listen, I’m not saying this because I want to: Rhys has been my friend since we were kids, and for a lot of that he was my only friend. But he’s always been an asshole. Since we came to Pandora, since he had Jack in his head, he’s been worse, dangerous.”

“Jack?” Tim froze and his chest tightened.

“He didn’t even tell you,” the small man had a slightly disgusted expression on his face, “Of course he didn’t . . . would’ve been too hard to convince you to come here if you’d known.”

“What do you mean he had Jack in his head?”

Letting out a long sigh, Vaughn ran one hand through his hair, “I don’t know if this is a story that I should be telling.”

“You already started telling it,” Tim pointed out, trying to keep the strain from his voice, “So, why not finish?”

“No, I think I’ve done enough as it is,” Vaughn took a step backwards, “I’m going back to Helios. But you need to think about what he’s really getting out of you with this arrangement you have going. Because the Rhys I know, doesn’t do anything without gaining some sort of advantage from it. If you stay, tell Rhys I said I’ll see him around.”

Vaughn backed the rest of the way out of the room quickly, and Tim was left to stare at the slowly closing door. He needed answers. Now.

It was a good thing he was head of security.

Minutes later, a security alert sounded through the base, locking down doors to anyone without the proper clearance. And _totally coincidentally_ , it quickly ending whatever meeting Rhys was in.

He met Rhys in his shielded office, the cyborg’s look of concern quickly melting into relief as Tim entered the room.

“What happened?” Rhys demanded, voice slightly higher than normal, “Assassins? Bandits?”

Tim frowned and stepped closer, Rhys was as immaculate as ever, and somehow that seemed wrong. Like a facade to hide some sort of ugliness that Tim was only seeing the tip of. “What happened in the mess hall today?”

Rhys’ lips pressed into a thin line, “They were agitators Tim, sent here for one purpose, and one purpose only.”

“To ask about a settlement that was wiped out?”

“A bandit settlement,” Rhys responded reaching one hand forward to draw the vault hunter closer.

Tim almost went, it took everything in his power to force himself a step backwards, but he wasn’t doing this all over again. He wouldn’t be played, “So you had to shoot them in the mess hall?”

The hand dropped and Rhys’ face followed suit, “I admit it wasn’t my classiest move, and it’s not something I enjoyed either. If running a weapons company on Pandora could be done differently, believe me, I would. But unfortunately, if you don’t prove you can be dangerous from time to time, no one will take you seriously.”

Rhys ran one hand along the back of his neck and suddenly he seemed tired, in fact more than just tired, he looked worn out.

Tim frowned, clearly this line of questioning wouldn’t get him anywhere, Rhys seemed to truly believe his choice had been the only option he had; that in itself was dangerous. But Tim could hardly deny that often Pandora forced you into ugly decisions.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Jack?”

Rhys froze, wide eyes snapping up and narrowing, “Jack?”

“Vaughn said you had Jack in your head,” Tim pressed.

“Oh,” The CEO’s head lowered again and he slid back into his seat, “. . . I guess you were going to find out eventually. . .”

“What was Vaughn talking about?”

Rhys clasped his hands together tightly and looked pained, “The short of it is, when I first came to Pandora, I found an AI of Handsome Jack. I accidentally put him in my head, and if you want to see how that went, well, look no further than Helios.”

 

“Oh,” That hadn’t been any of the possibilities Tim had been panicking about, in fact, that sounded more like Rhys had been a victim of Jack than anything else.

“Yeah it was . . .” Rhys shook his head, “. . . well I wish I hadn’t met my hero I guess.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tim asked finally while taking the seat opposite Rhys’ desk.

“I didn’t want to drive you away, or dump my baggage on top of yours,” The CEO ran one hand along his own forearm almost nervously, “And honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of telling the story.”

Tim could understand that, he didn’t like to talk about Jack either, “He’s not still up there, right?”

With his eyes widening, the CEO leaned forward, “No, absolutely not. I ripped out my own cybernetics to make sure that would never happen to me again.”

“I’m sorry for dragging this all out into the open,” Tim suddenly felt ashamed at his role in causing the mournful expression on Rhys’ face, “I’m sure it can’t be easy.”

Rhys stood and walked around the desk, hands softly ghosting along the edges of the vault hunter’s face, “No, I’m sorry. I should have said something before this, you should have known going in.”

Reaching out, Tim pulled the man closer, “I might not have come if you’d told me, and then I’d have missed this. Just . . . do me a favour okay? Don’t keep things like this from me. If we’re going to be together, we have to deal with these sort of things.”

“I swear,” Rhys breathed, neck craning down to press soft lips onto Tim’s own, “So this emergency lock down, it was just so you could talk to me?”

“Vaughn, uh . . . he um . . . scared me is all,” Tim chewed his lip sheepishly, “He seemed to think that you’re taking advantage of me,”

“Where is Vaughn anyway?”

“Said he was going back to Helios,” Tim shrugged, “Told me to tell you he’d see you around.”

“Ah,” A frown crossed Rhys’ face, “Do you . . . do _you_ think I’m taking advantage of you?”

Tim snorted and leaned forward, “Well, you are my boss and I’m pretty sure dating is against most corporate rules. But uh . . . if you are ‘taking advantage’ I don’t mind.”

The cyborg’s eyes lit up, “Well then, since there’s a lock-down, how about I do some taking advantage of you on the couch?”

“Shouldn’t we raise the lock down first?”

Rhys shook his head, “Nah, then they’ll want to have more meetings, and I can think of a number of things I’d much rather be doing.”

A hand along Tim’s thigh accented the man’s point and the vault hunter grinned, “Guess we better get started then.”

 

* * *

 

 

It was three weeks later that a call came from the Children of Helios base, Vaughn had never made it back.

Rhys didn’t sleep for three days, pacing back and forth in his office, snapping at men who reported having found no sign of Vaughn. Tim wasn’t sure he’d even seen him sit down, and he definitely hadn’t seen him sleep. The vault hunter did his best to comfort the man, but there was little he could do.

When he offered to go out looking himself Rhys had let out a snapped, “Absolutely not.”

Later that day he’d mentioned the encounter to Fiona who’d just laughed and shook her head, “You’re really dense sometimes, Tim.”

“Why?” He didn’t understand, if Rhys wanted to find Vaughn he was the best choice. A vault hunter might have real luck where others didn’t.

Fiona rolled her eyes, “The guy can’t find his best friend, he’s not about to let the man he fell in love with go running out into the middle of nowhere.”

For the next two weeks Rhys searched desperately for signs of his missing friend, and the CEO’s perfect image seemed to fall apart. The combined damage to sleep deprivation, stress, and anger were certainly beginning to take their toll.

Tim was worried about the cyborg, it was becoming more and more likely with each passing day that Vaughn was dead. After all, going missing on Pandora for that long didn’t usually mean good things. It wasn’t something he wanted Rhys to have to deal with, but even trained vault hunters often died when wandering the shithole of a planet on their own.

The day Tim had finally made up his mind to try and coax Rhys into accepting this very fact, was the same day that Rhys called an emergency meeting. The vault hunter was the last to arrive as he’d had to travel from the other side of the facility.

The meeting consisted of only three other people, Fiona, Sasha, and Cassius, a strange group for an emergency meeting to be sure. Tim had only met the twitchy Atlas scientist once before in passing. Doctor Cassius Leclemaine had been hurrying down the hall while staring at a stack of papers when he’d run into Tim, literally. The result had been an incredibly awkward and stunted conversation while they had picked up the dropped paper.

Rhys looked up when Tim entered with the wide grin he got whenever he’d just solved a particularly difficult problem.

“Tim, you’re here, good, good,” The cyborg seemed scatterbrained, but incredibly enthusiastic, and that could only mean one thing.

“You found Vaughn?” Tim asked, his own smile spreading.

Rhys hesitated before shaking his head, “I found his echo comm signal, but that’s _something_.”

Nodding, the vault hunter sat down in one of the conference room seats, “So where are we headed?”

“Fiona and Sasha are going to head to the signal,” Rhys said calmly, “Cassius is going to keep track of them on this end, then we can be on standby to head out with some troops if needed.”

Tim raised one eyebrow, “You know, I can go too, I’ll be okay. I’ve been doing this vault hunting thing for years and I think that could-”

“No.” Rhys cut him off and was scowling now.

“He’s better at tracking than either of us,” Fiona pointed out almost as if it pained her to admit such a thing.

“Tim stays here,” The CEO said firmly while crossing his arms.

Sasha let out a long sigh, “Seriously? You’re being ridiculous. Me and Fi will have his back. It’ll be-”

A resounding slam cut the woman off as Rhys stood and brought his fist down on the table, “I said no. You people have your jobs, now go fucking do them!”

Sasha’s eyes narrowed and she exchanged a glance with her sister, “We’re going on this mission for Vaughn. But, just so you’re aware, after that we’re through.”

“Sash, he’s just worried,” Fiona said obviously annoyed but not quite as angry, “We can talk about all of this after.”

“No, no backing out, we were going to leave before Vaughn went missing, and we are definitely leaving after we find him,” Sasha’s voice was firm, and her eyes never left Rhys.

“Fine,” The cyborg’s voice was like ice, “Now get out of my conference room.”

“Fucking Hyperions,” Sasha snarled, whirling on one foot and storming from the room.

Tim found himself seeking out Fiona in confusion, the woman however simply gave him a casual shrug and then motioned at Cassius, “Come on, you still need to set up that comm for us.”

As the door closed behind them, Tim stood and slowly approached the cyborg like he was some kind of wild animal, “Rhys?”

Taking in a sharp breath Rhys turned to look at him with a tired smile, “Sorry about that . . . I just . . . I can’t right now.”

“You know you don’t have to carry all of this on your own, right? We’re supposed to be a team. Talk to me.”

Rhys lifted his hand from the table and Tim frowned as he realized that not only had the man punched it with his flesh arm, but he’d also injured himself in the process.

“I know, I know,” The CEO winced as he examined his fist, “It’s just been a lot with Vaughn missing, and I don’t know what I’d do if you went missing too.”

Tim sighed and reached forward to take a look at the other man’s hand, “I’ve been through considerably worse missions than just searching the wastes for one missing guy.”

“Please, don’t go out there,” Rhys spoke softly, but his eyes suggested a thinly veiled panic.

“Alright,” Tim turned over Rhys’ hand so he could get a better look at the man’s injury; Tim was pleased to find that while it was definitely going to bruise, it was otherwise okay, “We’ll do it your way.”

“Thank you,” Rhys let himself drop back into his seat, his hand pulling free as he moved.

“I have to ask though,” Tim sat down opposite the cyborg, “What was that with Sasha?”

A bitter look flashed across Rhys’ face, “She disapproves of Atlas methods, and seems to think I’m running Hyperion two point O. If she had any idea what Hyperion got up to, she wouldn’t think so, but, there’s no changing her mind once it’s set.”

“Why would she even think that?”

Rhys looked frustrated now, “Some crackpot has been telling people that my terraforming is all just a cover so that _I_ can mine Eridium’,” The cyborg scoffed, “I mean there’s fucking trees sprouting up everywhere we’ve terraformed. But that’s not evidence enough for this lunatic - or Sasha . . . apparently.”

Tim shook his head and frowned, “She didn’t seem like the type to believe in conspiracy theories . . .”

“Oh she’s the type alright,” Rhys rolled his eyes, “Honestly it’s a miracle she stuck with us this long. Did you know she used to have an anti-Hyperion radio station?” The cyborg snorted, “And, it was all the bullshit crazy stuff. I’ve heard recordings. I think I might still have them saved if you wanted to hear.”

Tim shook his head and let out a soft chuckle, “No, I think I’ve heard enough Pandoran radio to last me a lifetime thanks.”

Rhys reached up to run his hand through his hair before swearing as he remembered his injury, “I should get this taken care of.”

Tim pressed a kiss to Rhys’ lips, “Yeah, you should. And then we’re going home to do something relaxing.”

“What if Sasha and Fio-”

“Nope, it’ll take them time to travel there. I’m sure someone will contact us the moment they find something. But if you are so exhausted and stressed that you’re hurting yourself, you won’t be able to help anyone.”

Rhys looked like he might protest for a moment before he finally just smiled, “What would I do without you?”

“Be sad, stressed, lonely, unfulfilled, grouchy . . .” Tim responded with a grin, “I could go on.”

“Good thing I’ve got you then.”

 

* * *

 

Tim woke to the sound of his echo comm going off, he blindly reached out one arm to wrap around Rhys and found the bed next to him empty. Sighing, the vault hunter sat up. Of course Rhys had already left for the day, even before Vaughn had gone missing he seemed to sleep four hours at the most.

Stretching Tim plucked up his echo comm and raised a brow when he saw a message from Cassius asking that Tim come speak with him as soon as he was free to do so. Whatever it was didn’t sound urgent, so the vault hunter spent an extra twenty minutes stretched out in Rhys’ incredibly comfy bed before finally getting up.

It took him longer than he’d anticipated to find Cassius’ office, he’d never had cause to go there before and for some reason the man was situated on the far end of the facility past a veritable maze of hallways. Whatever it was, Tim was hoping it would be over quickly, he was due for lunch with Rhys in an hour, and if he didn’t show up, the cyborg probably wouldn’t eat.

He found the door open and the scientist seated hunched over a computer in a large office that didn’t quite seem to be lit well enough for a room its size. Knocking hesitantly on the open door, Tim couldn’t help but flinch when Cassius let out a small shriek.

Clutching his chest Cassius turned his chair slowly, “Sorry, sorry, Mr. Lawrence just ah...absorbed in my work, thank you for coming.”

The scientist seemed, unhinged. Well, he’d always seemed a little unhinged, but it felt like he was well and truly out of it this time, “What can I do for you Doctor Leclemaine?”

“Oh uh, well it’s just . . . you know, normally I would never question Mr. Fausse, especially with him being . . . oh well . . . it’s just, his friends well . . . they’re my friends too you know sort of, they’re really my only friends. After losing my cat, I just . . . I don’t have any . . . uh. . .”

“Why don’t you just say whatever it is you’re saying,” Tim finally interrupted a little bit more sternly than was probably entirely necessary. He couldn’t help it. The man’s rambling was putting his teeth on edge.

“Right . . . right . . .” He seemed distraught, “I think Mr. Fausse has made some sort of mistake, with the location he’s sent Fiona and her sister.”

“Why not talk to Rhys about this?” Tim questioned.

“Oh, well, he doesn’t always seem to take me very seriously,” Cassius’ eyes were trained on Tim, following every little movement. “I mean my doctorate is in biogenetics, but I still know an echo comm signal would never show up in the Anodic Gardens . . . there’s too much interference. Besides, there’s nothing but insane Loaderbots there . . .”  His eyes darted around the room as though he was watching for something, “. . . and Mr. Fausse uh . . .” The man’s voice dropped to a whisper, “Well he scares me sometimes.”

“Scares you-” Tim started to speak with an amused tone of voice, and then his brain caught up with the rest of what Cassius had said, “wait, what do you mean _insane Loaderbots_?”

“Well, some of them didn't come out quite so stable when they developed their own personalities, they became . . . well . . . violent,” Cassius ran one hand along his jaw, “And Hyperion, back when it was still operational, simply dumped them on Pandora rather than decommission them.”

“And - that's where Rhys sent Fiona and Sasha?” Tim’s heart felt like it was trying to escape his chest, the cyborg had been sleeping even less than normal, mistakes were more than possible.

“Uh . . . yes.”

“Recall them, now,” Tim snapped while quickly turning towards the door, “They don't stand a chance out there, I'm going to go talk to Rhys.”

“Oh, uh . . . yes, okay,” The scientist looked a little brighter at the prospect.

Tim was halfway to Rhys’ office when his echo comm went off again, it was Cassius. Answering while still on the move, Tim didn’t waste any words, “What?”

“It uh…” The doctor’s voice sounded small, “It seems I can’t contact them.”

“What do you mean you can’t contact them? They aren’t picking up?”

“No . . . that’s no . . . their echo comm signatures have vanished, I can’t . . .” There was a small sobbing sound, followed by muttering Tim couldn’t quite make out, “I just . . . I don’t know . . . they were there only an hour ago . . . hadn’t even reached their target yet . . .”

“I’m going to go talk to Rhys, okay? We’ll get the troops moving and go get them.”

“O-okay.”

Tim hung up the call just as he reached Rhys’ office doors. He could hear the cyborg speaking in a strained tone on the other side of the door only for it to suddenly cut off. Opening the door the vault hunter watched as the CEO slammed his cybernetic fist this time into his desk. The sound of wood cracking made the vault hunter wince. He was going to be upset about that damage later.

Tim needed to ease the other man into this latest news, especially since Rhys already seemed like he was having a bad day, “tough echo call?”

“What?” Rhys looked up confused.

“I heard you talking through the door,” Tim responded quickly, walking closer and then running one hand along the other man’s arm.

“Oh, yes,” He seemed distracted, “Bad call. Bad day. Is it lunch time then?”

“Look we . . . uh, I’m going to need a raincheck. Fiona and  
Sasha - ” Tim spoke in a calm steady tone of voice.

“If Fiona and Sasha need backup, I’m going with you,” Rhys scowled, “That was the plan remember?”

“They’ve gone missing,” Best to tear the band aid off quickly, “Cassius thinks you may have miscalculated the location of Vaughn’s echo comm.”

Rhys scoffed, “and what does Cassius know about tracking signals?”

Tim sighed, “Listen, it wasn’t your fault. Just an accident. But you need to know . . . you sent them to the Anodic Gardens . . .”

Rhys’ face seemed to drain of colour, “That’s not possible. I would never have been able to get Vaughn’s signal . . .”

"You were tired." Tim crouched down in front of the cyborgs chair and grasped the other man's hands, "It's not your fault. But, now I need to go get them, okay?"

Rhys scowled at his desk, “I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Oh yes, I am - I got them into this, I’m going.”

Tim took one look at the firm line of Rhys' lips: there would be no convincing him.

"Fine," The vault hunter sighed. "But, you stick close to me and do exactly what I say."

Rhys nodded, “I can do that.”

 

* * *

 

They set out an hour later, with a convoy of men. Rhys sat opposite Tim inside the troop carrier with his eyes focused on the floor. He was tapping his cybernetic hand against his gun in a fast paced rhythm, over and over again. Tim reached out to clamp down on it. The cyborg’s fidgeting was obviously putting all the troops on edge.

“It’ll be fine,” He spoke firmly. To be honest Tim wasn’t sure it would be fine, if he had to guess, he’d lean towards it being anything but fine. However, Rhys didn’t need to hear that right now, no, he needed to hear that it would be okay.

Rhys directed a wan smile Tim’s way and then ran his hand through his hair. The man’s eyes weren’t quite coming up to meet the vault hunter’s and Tim sighed.

Reaching out one hand, he firmly raised the slim man’s chin, “Look at me, this isn’t your fault Rhys, and feeling guilty isn’t going to help anyone. It’s just going to make you miserable.”

A slightly guarded look entered the cyborg’s face, but he nodded against Tim’s palm, “Okay.”

The troop carrier came to a halt, doors sliding open. The four soldiers quickly raising their guns as they moved out.

“Stay in the carrier,” Tim said sternly as he stood. “I’ll let you know when you can come out.”

“I can take care of myself,” Rhys protested.

Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the top of the other man’s head.

“Humour me.”

The CEO folded his arms like a child put in timeout, a pout twisting his lips. Tim had to restrain himself from either outright laughing, or going to snap a picture.

“I’ll tell you when it’s safe,” he promised over his shoulder.

Rhys just scoffed and made an impatient gesture.

Stepping from the vehicle Tim scanned the area quickly, watching as the troops spread out to secure the area. But he could already tell how unnecessary it would be. The area was empty, and true to Cassius’ maps, they were still an hour out from the Anodic Gardens.

A strict looking woman in a perfectly fitted Atlas uniform approached him, “We have a perimeter formed, Sir. No hostiles.”

“Thank you, I’ll let Mr. Fausse know.”

The woman gave a brisk nod and then quickly returned to her duties. Tim watched her go with a slight frown as he tried to place her face. He’d met her before, hadn’t he? No matter.

Returning to the carrier, Tim leaned his head in to find Rhys glowering at the wall as though it had personally offended him, “you can come out now.”

Rhys raised his head, glower fading as he looked at Tim, “No bandits waiting to jump out at us then?”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Tim held out his hand as Rhys reached the end of the carrier, the man taking it and dropping gracefully onto the ground.

Rhys’ nose scrunched up as he took in his surroundings, “How . . . unpleasant . . .”

Turning, the vault hunter couldn’t help but agree with that assessment. There were a lot of generally ugly places on Pandora, but this really did seem to take the cake. Everything around them was a yellowish brown, from the muddy ground to the stagnant pools of water that littered it.

“Cassius did say this was a Hyperion dumping ground,” Tim commented, “And if I know Hyperion, probably not just for Loaderbots.”

Rhys nodded his head slowly in agreement, “Probably not.”

“So, any sign of them?”

The cyborg turned on the spot, eyes roving over their surroundings, “Give me a second.” There was a flash of gold as his echo eye whirled to life, and then the Atlas CEO was carefully scanning over their environment.

Tim leaned back against the carrier, this wouldn’t take too long, hopefully there would be some evidence.

Not too long rapidly turned into ten minutes, and then an hour as Rhys scanned over areas he’d already been as if the answer might change. Finally Tim approached and pulled him back from a rotting tree the man was trying to scan for the tenth time.

Rhys froze and then slowly turned, his eyes searching over Tim hopelessly. The moment sat like a wine glass on the edge of a table. Dangerous and moments from shattering. And then the CEO simply collapsed.

Tim barely caught Rhys in time. Confused eyes stared up at Tim as he lowered, both, himself and the man he’d fallen in love with to the ground.

“They were supposed to be here,” Rhys muttered against the vault hunter’s chest.

Tim’s face crumbled, he felt utterly helpless, “I know.”

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Running one hand through the other man’s hair, the vault hunter smiled sadly, “we go home, you’ve been killing yourself over this, and I need you to . . .” Tim sighed, “Look, we can keep sending scouts out, but you need to rest.”

“How am I supposed to rest when I-” the following words were choked off but he didn’t need the cyborg to finish the sentence to know where it was going.

“This is not your fault,” Tim spoke very slowly and firmly this time, “Pandora is a bad place, and bad things happen to good people here. You couldn’t have done anything to stop it.”

Rhys let his head lower, but he didn’t say anything else or protest, which was some progress at least. They sat like that for another twenty minutes before the stern woman, who Tim definitely must have met some place before, informed them they needed to leave if they wanted to reach Atlas’ territory before nightfall.

When they returned to the base Tim took Rhys straight to medical where Doctor Schlimme gave him some sedatives, before setting him up on one of the cots for observation. That the CEO didn’t even protest was a clear sign of how exhausted he was.

Pressing a soft kiss to Rhys’ head, Tim headed for his final unpleasant task of the day, informing Cassius that Fiona, Sasha, and Vaughn were all missing still.

Thankfully, with it being such a pain to find the first time, Tim now knew exactly how to get to the man’s office. His feet quickly carrying him down the hallways. He was eager to get it over with and get some sleep himself.

When he arrived the door was closed but he could see a light on inside, knocking lightly Tim cleared his voice, “Doctor Leclemaine?”

There was no answer but a slight thud resounded from inside the office and the vault hunter frowned before knocking again.

“Doctor Leclemaine, it’s Timothy Lawrence,” He knocked a third time. “I just need to talk to you.”

Silence answered him and Tim sighed, the doctor must have fallen asleep in his chair or something. He wasn’t looking forward to walking all the way back out the next day. Maybe he could leave a note? No, that was too impersonal.

Sighing, he turned around only to hear a loud crash on the other side of the door. What the hell had that been? Turning back Tim hesitated for a moment and then wrapped one hand around the door handle.

A large dark room greeted him, and he could just make out the broken remains of a light fixture lying in the middle of the open space. Something was very, very, wrong, and not just because of the broken light or the eerie silence. No it was with a mounting sense of panic that Tim realized none of the doctor’s belongings were in the room anymore.

It was utterly empty but for the single broken light fixture.

The sound of footsteps broke Tim’s distracted state and his eyes jerked up, there was another door, he hadn’t seen it before because he was fairly certain it had been buried behind a filing cabinet.

Wasting no time he ran for the door, just barely glimpsing the heel of a dress shoe and the edge of skirt going around the corner up ahead. Breaking into a full blown sprint he came around the corner and found himself at the entrance to a small corridor that appeared to be built for the cleaning bots. Swearing, Tim wedged himself sideways and barreled down the tight fit as quickly as he could. Stupid Jack and his stupid broad shoulders, Tim was pretty sure he would have fit down the hall fine prior to the surgery.

At the end of the hall he could just make out what appeared to be a woman turning back to look at him for a moment and then breaking into a sprint.

Dammit!

By the time he reached the end of the hall she was long gone, and the vault hunter had no way to track her. It was time to double back and look at that room again.

When he finally returned to the office, Tim felt his hair stand on end when he realized the light fixture had been cleaned up and the room was now well and truly barren. What was happening? Some sort of infiltration? A take over from the inside?

Panic shot through the man, he needed to get back to Rhys immediately. Who knew what was happening and he’d left the CEO entirely helpless and alone in the medical ward. Tim ran the entire way back, he had never felt more relieved than when he found the cyborg still asleep, snoring softly, and undisturbed. Running one hand through the man’s hair, he pulled up his security team on his echo comm.

“I want a lock-down of the facilities. No one in or out. And someone needs to find me Dr. Cassius Leclemaine, now.”

“Is he dangerous, Sir?”

“No, I think he might be in danger.”

“We’re on it, Sir.”

Hanging up the call Tim found he was suddenly exhausted; this whole day had been too much. The vault hunter climbed into the cyborgs cot next to him and wrapped one arm around the thin man. It was a tight fit with both of them. But Tim didn’t care, he wasn’t leaving Rhys’ side until he figured out what the hell was going on.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day Tim woke to a hand softly stroking the side of his face, as he opened his eyes the vault hunter couldn’t help but smile. Rhys’ mismatched gaze was focused on his face as if he were some sort of puzzle the man was trying to put together. 

“What?” He asked confused, “Did I drool all over or something?”

Rhys chuckled, “No, I just, I don’t think I’ve ever known someone like you.”

“Oh,” Tim reached out and pulled the other man closer, “That’s nice.”

He could feel the curve of the CEO’s smile as their lips met and Rhys’ arms tightened around the vault hunter like he was afraid he might vanish. After a few minutes of quiet cuddling and soft kisses, Tim finally pulled away, eye’s running over the tired face he’d come to love. Should he tell the man that Cassius was missing? No, whatever this was he was better off leaving it be for the time being.

“I’m going to leave some extra security with you for a little while,” Tim said, “I have a few things I want to look into around the base to make sure everything’s running smoothly. But if you need anything just echo comm me and I shouldn’t be far away.”

Rhys suddenly looked distraught and Tim hesitated in his attempt to climb out of the cot.

“What’s wrong?” Tim asked.

Shaking his head Rhys smiled falsely, “It’s nothing, I’m just being silly.”

Standing, Tim wrapped one hand around Rhys’ and brought it to his lips, “You need anything at all, and you just call me okay?”

“Okay,” The man’s voice sounded small and Tim had never seen him look quite so pale or thin before. Tim’s determination to fix the situation settled in his stomach like a weight, and with one last kiss he quickly left the room.

The first place Tim looked was back at Cassius’ office, but after close inspection he found there truly was nothing left in the room. Stepping out of the office he noticed a nearby door sitting open. Maybe his neighbour would know what had happened. Tim reached out to knock lightly on the metal.

“Come in,” A man’s voice spoke from the other side of the door. Stepping in, he found a confused mousey looking man peering up from behind a stack of papers, “can I help you Mr…?”

“Lawrence,” Tim said calmly, “I’m head of security and I had a few questions about the man in the neighbouring office.”

“James?” The man blinked, “Did he do something wrong?”

Tim sighed, “The other office.”

“Doctor Leclemaine?” The man questioned with a frown, “Uh, well he’s our . . . oh I mean he was our department head.”

“What do you mean was?”

“We were briefed this morning, he’s moved to a different facility or something, to run it I think . . .”

“Who were you briefed by?” Tim questioned.

The man frowned slightly, “I’m not sure I remember her name, pretty woman. She said Mr. Fausse wanted him moved somewhere else for a special project.”

“Thank you for your time,” The vault hunter said with a tense smile.

“Did uh, did Doctor Leclemaine do something wrong?”

“No, no, I just needed to brief him on some new security measures, it can wait,” Tim lied smoothly and then quickly left the room before the man could ask more questions.

It was all very strange, but if the Doctor had been officially transferred by this woman, there would be records of that.

On his trip to the main Atlas database, he felt as if he was being watched and found himself constantly turning his head, trying to find whoever had eyes on him. But there was no one, just mostly empty hallways, and closed doors.

He entered in his security passcode, and quickly typed the doctor’s name into the search box.

_Ristricted._

Tim frowned, that was strange. As head of security he’d never run into anything restricted before. If he recalled correctly, Rhys had told him he would have access to everything on the system.

Well, it was easy enough to get around if you had the right tools. Lucky for Tim, he used to work for one hell of a hacker. One hell of a hacker who was generally too lazy to do his own field work.

Sliding the dataport into place Tim grinned as the screen flooded with code and then cleared to again.

_Admin login accepted. Welcome back Meg._

Meg. Why did he know that name…

Everything suddenly clicked into place, Meg. As in Jack’s secretary Meg. The woman he’d recognized out in the field’s face suddenly slotting into place where it belonged in his memory. She was a little older, face a little more hollow, but it was definitely Jack’s secretary.

What was she up to?

If Tim had to guess, he would lean towards nothing good.

Running a search of the security cameras for her face, he quickly found her most recent appearance in one of the robot’s service tunnels on the administration level just behind Rhys’ office.

Thanking his lucky stars that Rhys was in the medical ward and not his office, Tim quickened his pace as he hurried down the halls. He smiled thinly as he passed the few executives who’d bothered to come in on the weekend.

But when he came to her last sighted spot he was immediately frustrated. There was nowhere she could have gone from there that didn’t lead to more security cameras. So how had she vanished?

Tim ran his hand along the wall in the camera’s only blind spot, there had to be some sort of passage, an old tunnel or something similar, nothing else made sense, after all people didn’t disappear. Or . . .

Looking up the vault hunter smiled, got her.

On the ceiling above him was a moveable panel to allow maintenance on the wiring above, sliding it to one side with the nose of his rifle, Tim nodded grimly to himself. This was definitely how she’d gotten away from the cameras.

The wires had been rearranged enough to allow a person to fit through, for Tim it would definitely be a tight squeeze, but he was confident he could make it. With a small jump he caught the edges and pulled himself up, and then along through the small passage. It was less than ten meters before he came on a similar hatch and was dropping himself down with his pistol raised at the room before him.

His eyes adjusted to the soft light of the room quickly as he looked around, it seemed to be some sort of laboratory. Large machines softly humming around the room were connected to a huge glass chamber filled with some sort of opaque purple fluid that looked suspiciously like processed Eridium. What the hell was going on? Meg definitely was not working alone.

A large screen on the far wall came to life and blue static hummed across the screen, had that monitor turned on by itself? Or was Meg in the room someplace? Turning away, he examined his surroundings with a more careful eye, she had to be here somewhere. A small door on the other side of the room caught his eye and he smiled grimly, of course there was another exit.

“I wouldn’t go out there if I were you Timtam, you’re not going to like what you’ll find,” A voice behind him sing-songed.

Tim felt like he’d been shot. He knew that voice.

Spinning on one heel with his gun raised, he gaped as he found a blue slightly pixelated Handsome Jack grinning down at him from the screen that had come to life moments before

“You’re dead,” Tim said flatly. “Twice over now.”

“Well, uh, how's that quote go again?” Jack ran one hand along his chin. “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

“You’re the AI,” Tim said slowly, eyes narrowing, “And you’re in the system. It’s been you behind everything, all of Rhys’ friends-”

“Ooooh, sorry kiddo, only got two outta three right,” Jack chuckled, “try again.”

“You’re not in the system?” Tim frowned confused, but then how would he be able to effect things? He supposed Meg was the obvious answer.

Jack started laughing, “Ah man, I told him you’d never get it. Poor little Timtam, always so dumb and easy . . .”

A sinking feeling weighed his chest down, and suddenly the vault hunter felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. Jack couldn’t mean what it seemed like he did. It was a lie. The vault hunter blindly stumbled for the door he saw earlier and slammed it open.

Rhys’ office was laid out in front of him and Tim froze. This was wrong, it was all wrong, unless . . .

Jack was still in Rhys’ cybernetics, it was the only logical answer.

But it wouldn’t matter, between the two of them they could stop this. They knew what was happening now, so they could get Jack out of Rhys’ head. Save his friends, destroy the AI, and everything would be fine.

It would all be just fine, because this was different, right?

Except Rhys was in his office when he was supposed to be in the medical ward. The man was seated behind his desk with a small frown on his too perfect face and a gun in his hand. A few feet away lay the body of Jack’s longtime secretary and loyal supporter, Meg.

“Really cupcake?” Jack’s voice came through the speakers and a screen dropped from the ceiling, “What’d you go and shoot Meg for?”

Rhys raised a brow and pointed at Tim, “Take a guess.”

Jack let out an exasperated sigh, “Fine, fine, I’ll give you that. She did mess it all up.”

“Rhys,” Tim’s voice felt hollow, no, scratch that, everything felt hollow.

Lowering the gun now, Rhys smiled his perfect smile and reached out one hand, “Look, Tim, I know this is a lot to take in, I was going to tell you about all of this eventually, but I promise it really isn’t as bad as it seems.”

“You said Jack was gone, said you ripped him out of your cybernetics after you took down Helios,” Tim could probably recite the story, the Children of Helios certainly liked to tell it enough. At this point no one on the planet could possibly forget it.

Jack scoffed, “Jeez, Pandora must have some sorta brain disease going around because I still can’t believe everyone and their dog went for what Mr. Sales Pitch over there was selling. As if anyone could take down Helios with nothing but a stun baton.”

Rhys looked slightly affronted, but when he realized Tim was looking at him, he at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed, “I might have been . . . well let’s just call it, less than forthcoming on all the real details. But look, no one knew the truth, I didn’t just keep it from you.”

“But you did keep it from me,” Tim took a step backwards shaking his head, he almost didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know. “What really happened?”

“The board of directors were more willing to let Helios burn than let me be in charge again,” Jack’s voice echoed in the air, “So when Rhysie here put me in the system and I declared him the new CEO, the board activated their fail-safe.”

Rhys crossed his legs and leaned forward, “We _had_ to make it seem like we’d had a falling out. I couldn’t literally fall to Pandora with people thinking I was helping Jack, it would have been a death sentence for both of us. So we made a scene, and then on the way out, Jack jumped back into my cybernetics, we didn’t even really have to make most of it up, people did that for us.”

“Fiona told me Loaderbot helped you off the station, he remembers-”

“Does he?” Rhys shook his head, “He's Hyperion tech, and I have an echo eye. I knew it was Loaderbot who’d kidnapped Fiona and I from the moment I scanned him. And do you know what robots have? Hackable memory banks.”

“So it’s all a lie,” Tim’s voice was faint.

“Not that I love you,” Rhys said standing now.

Jack laughed, “Nerd love, not sure if I should vomit or take a picture.”

Glaring, Rhys shook his head, “You didn’t seem to mind watching.”

The AI was grinning now, “Not gonna mind participating either, soon as my new body is up and running.”

Tim took a step backwards, this was all wrong, all some hideous bad dream his anxieties had concocted. Any moment now he’d wake up in his room, and it would all be fine.

“Cheer up Timmy,” Jack laughed, “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

A sudden realization nearly put Tim on his ass and he stared up at Rhys as horror coursed through him, “Vaughn, Sasha, Fiona, and Cassius . . . you . . . what did you do?”

Rhys looked like he wasn’t sure how to respond, the frozen expression of a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar twisting his face into something unpleasant.

“Don’t worry about that,” Jack cut in, “What you should be worrying about, is if you’re going to sign back up to the Handsome Jack team or not, kiddo.”

The vault hunter ignored him and stared at Rhys, “Listen to me, okay? I know what it’s like . . . I know what he’s like. But, he doesn’t really care. He will destroy you and everything you love. He’s already part way there Rhys. I remember what it’s like, being swept up in it. You do things you didn’t think you were capable of, but I need you to listen to me: you don’t need him. We can stop this here and now.”

“Tim,” Rhys started, and the vault hunter could tell from the first syllable that his words had made no impact at all, “I’ve always been on his team, and you used to be too. Don’t resist this, it’s for the best, and then we can all be together.”

Closing his eyes against the room Tim shook his head, “I swore I would never go back to working for that lunatic. You can’t make me, and I am going to stop you.”

Rhys sighed, “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to do this you know?”

“Wha-” A sharp pain jolted through his spine and Tim dropped to the floor.

Leaning over top of him Rhys was staring at him with something akin to pity. Tim felt a rage spark through him, but in spite of his best efforts, he found that he couldn’t move.

“Do you have any idea how rare an allergic reaction to vaccines is Tim?” Rhys sighed as the world started to fade to black, “I really wanted to do this the easy way."

 

* * *

 

Rhys ran one hand along Tim’s hair softly. The vault hunter was unconscious and strapped to a medical cot, six point restraints, just in case. Although, with the drugs he was on, it was unlikely they'd have any difficulties.

Initially when he'd found Tim it had been all about Jack. They'd had to build his new body essentially from scratch, but Tim was a living breathing copy. He'd cut their development time in half. The necessary tests were done while Tim had been unconscious after his ‘vaccination’.

Rhys had hoped by removing anyone who might insert doubts into Tim’s head he could slowly ease him into the idea of Jack coming back, but Meg had fucked that plan right up. At least he’d relieved himself of some dead weight in the process.

He hadn’t really intended to kill Vaughn at first of course but it had just sort of happened, Jack had laughed the entire time. Rhys was glad he’d had the AI with him, dealing with Vaughn’s untimely death would have been difficult without his encouragement.

Sasha and Fiona were easier, and by the time it came to dealing with Cassius, Rhys was surprised to find he felt nothing at all. Although, in Fiona’s case she'd been put on ice rather than outright murdered. They were not losing what she'd learned in the vault.

The only thing he did regret was how Tim had found out about it all. It was a real pity, he had really come to like Tim, come to love him even. But Rhys had learned early on, that love was nothing you could let stand in the way of progress.

In Tim, he had found a fellow nerd, and a romantic soul who would jump in the way of a bullet for him. That sort of devotion was, of course, endearing. But, it was nothing in the face of what he could have with Jack. They would change the universe together.

Still, he had hoped that Tim would come around on his own.

A large hand settled posessively on the back of Rhys’ neck, interrupting his thoughts. Excitement shot up the cyborg’s spine and he couldn't help the smile pulling at his face.

“You sure we can fix this?” Rhys asked as he leaned back into the touch.

The hand travelled lower and a body pressed closer against Rhys’ back until a chin rested on his shoulder, “Nothing a little brainwashing can't fix.”

Rhys turned his head slightly to take in Jack's new body and breath seeming to catch in his throat as he did so, “Will he remember me?”

Jack just shrugged, “Maybe, we used to do it to the soldiers at Hyperion all the time. How much they could remember varied from person to person, but he'll be useful.”

Biting his lip Rhys looked down at Tim once more, “I really thought he'd come around.”

“Ah, Timtam’s always been stubborn, pumpkin. Now stop worrying about the little dope,” Jack bodily turned Rhys away from his doppelganger. “You don't need the knockoff when you finally got the real deal.”

A coy smile titled the cyborgs lips, “Ready to give the new body a test drive?”

Jack grinned and pressed himself closer, “Course I am cupcake, the real question is, can you handle it?”

Rhys grinned and Jack shoved him back against the far wall before one large hand grasped onto his collar and pulled. Buttons snapped across the room and Rhys let out a low groan at the aggressive display.

Stepping closer, Jack leaned in to press his mouth against the tattoos there before biting down, “You and these tattoos, flashing them all over,” Jack growled.

Breathless Rhys reached forward to tug at the loose pants Jack had pulled on after stepping from the vat, “Are you, mister ‘woke me up by whispering dirty things in my ear’, really accusing _me_ of being a tease?”

“You are a tease,” Jack grunted from where he'd just added another bite mark, “Doesn't mean I'm not.”

Rhys snorted and then immediately moaned as Jack finally worked his hands inside his pants. Where Tim had been the sort of attentive lover that made you feel like you might be floating on a cloud, Jack was the sort of man for whom the word _fucking_ had been created. Harsh and forceful in every way Tim never was, strong hands leaving bruises in their wake that hurt just right.

It was a true pity, Rhys thought as Jack shoved him down on the surface of a nearby table, he had really hoped he’d get to keep both of them. But, as Jack pushed into him and Rhys let his eyes ghost over Tim’s still form, he found he really didn’t have it in him to regret a single damn thing.

He was going to get everything he always wanted, and no one would be able to stop them.

 

* * *

 

 

**_"And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, Millions of mischiefs."_ **

_\- Octavius (Julius Caesar: Act 4, Scene 1, Page 3)_

**Author's Note:**

> The art contained within was created by (and belongs to) the amazing [hyperioncompanyman](http://hyperioncompanyman.tumblr.com) & [sightlessxx](http://sightlessxx.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> And please do leave a comment if you've got the time. It would be great to hear from you!


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